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Thursday, August 10, 2017

Easy Back To School Morning Routine

Get back into the easy, stress free school morning routine with General Mills and Costco AND help raise money for your child's school!

This is a sponsored post, but all opinions are my own.

Who's excited about back to school time?! While I love having my kids in preschool three days a week so that I have more time to devote to my blog and business, I am NOT a fan of how hectic mornings can be. Our school doesn't start until 9am so we don't have to wake up at a completely terrible hour, but in two years when Henry starts kindergarten, it's going to be insanely early. I'm not a morning person, so insanely early translates to insanely last minute and insanely last minute translates to hectic for this type A planner. But it doesn't *have* to be that way! I'm rounding up my best tips for calm, stress free and efficient back to school morning routines. Oh, and there's also an awesome sweepstakes for you to enter with Costco!

Have you ever heard/been annoyed by that saying, "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail"? Yeah, well it's true. Fail might be a bit extreme, but it will result in more stress and more chaos. Like I mentioned, I'm NOT a fan of mornings, and I want things to be as seamless and smooth as possible. I'm not one for talking, especially prior to coffee, and I don't want any power struggles, last minute meltdowns (that's not just from the kids - it includes me too!) or too much going on in the mornings. The older I get, the longer it seems to take my brain to "turn on" and having all that nonsense so early in the morning just gets my day off to a bad start.

So, what can be done to improve your back to school morning routine? Here's what I do to ensure things are as easy as possible for the kids AND for me:1) Make lunches the night before. Yes. Just do it. Before you sit on the couch, before you pour an evening glass of wine, make those lunches! If you build it into your nighttime kitchen cleaning practices, it will become habit. It's so nice to just throw those lunches into the kids backpacks in the morning! Oh, and when my kids get to first grade? They'll start to help me make their lunches and I plan on having them entirely make their lunches by second grade. Don't think that will happen? Watch me. It's how I grew up, and it's how they'll grow up too.

2) Make sure backpacks are packed and all paperwork/homework is in place the night before. Whether it be tuition checks, field trip waivers, diapers, or other various supplies your child might need or your school requires your child to have, make sure it's all in there and ready to go the night before! Then all you'll have to do is add those lunches (that you already packed).

3) Check the weather and plan outfits the night before. This works really well with my littlest child since he's too young to care what he wears. It's slightly trickier with my oldest. I usually look at the weather so I know what I'm working with, then give him two options on what to wear. This way, he feels like he has autonomy over his wardrobe but I still have the ability to plan ahead. Win-win.

4) Make breakfast easier. I don't allow my kids to eat in my car, but they can walk about the house while they eat breakfast (it's the only meal I let them walk about for, and really it's so I can get stuff done while they eat and therefore everyone can sleep longer! #protip from a woman who likes to sleep) Ziplock bags make Cheerios on the go so easy, and I love to throw a granola bar in my purse so I can eat it on the way home after school drop off. No, I'm not that mean mom who doesn't allow the kids to eat in the car, but eats in front of her kids! That's just rude.

Speaking of breakfasts, did you know Costco has all these General Mills products stocked at affordable prices? Yeah, go stock up wholesale style and you'll have easy breakfasts for weeks! Or if your kids eat like mine do, days. The thing that's extra cool about these products is that you can simultaneously fund raise for your child's school by saving the Box Tops logo on the box. As a bonus for some back to school inspiration, Costco is hosting a sweepstakes where you could win extra box tops for your kid's school! Let me translate that for you: win money for your child's school. Here's how to enter:

How to Enter Costco Sweeps:

Take a photo about how Box Tops for Education inspires imagination in your kid

Preferred ways of entry: Instagram or Twitter

Can upload to microsite as well but is not the preferred way of entry

Follow @BTFE on Twitter or Instagram (this is how winner will be notified so must follow this handle)

Share and use hashtag: #InspireContest

Prize: 3,000 Costco members will win. Each winner will win 100 Box Tops for their school

Sweeps will not include/do not engage in e-box tops

Sweepstakes fine print:

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Legal residents of the 50 United States (D.C.) 18 years or older. Ends at 11:59 p.m. ET on 9/30/17. To enter and for Official Rules, including odds, and prize descriptions visit www.costcobtfe.com. Void where prohibited by law. Use of “#InspireContest” when posting entry constitutes entrant’s agreement to Official Rules. Sponsor: General Mills.

Each box top is worth 10 cents to redeeming school when clipped from box tops products and sent to the redeeming school. Only BTFE registered schools can redeem box tops. Limit $20,000 per school per year for box tops redeemed through the clip program. See www.boxtopsforeducation.comfor program details.

I hope my pointers help make your back to school morning routine a tad easier for everyone! Remember, planning ahead is the key to a successful, less stress morning. General Mills products make my life easier by providing nutritious convenience foods to eat on the go (or, to eat wandering around the house, as my kids like to do.) Costco makes them super affordable, and their sweepstakes could help you raise some cash for your child's school. How awesome is that?

You know I love Costco! We love General Mills products too! And I love any shortcuts to a less stressful morning--I need to start making lunches and packing backpacks the night before (we might actually be on time for school then!) We use Box Tops for Bowe's school too--it is such a fantastic program!

Hey, I'm Paige

Yoga junkie, top-knot connoisseur and health nut who doesn't shy away from a good IPA and a cheeseburger

Disclosure

*Disclosure*Some of the links I use are affiliate links, which means I earn a small commission when you click on that link and make a purchase. All content is subject to copyright and may not be used without written permission from me.